Harpurhey councillor Pat Karney and Blackley and Broughton election candidate Graham Stringer have written to BBC director general Tony Hall in protest.

Stringer said: “We have learnt our lesson about these programmes that come and misrepresent and mislead local people. We had to go up to BBC HQ to get People Like Us stopped. We will do the same with this one.”

Karney added that the plans were "scandalous", while Coun Joanne Green said: “I don’t trust these London TV companies one bit. They promise the earth at the beginning and then trash our areas. They are not wanted in Harpurhey.”

A BBC spokesman said: “An independent production company is making a factual series about spending habits in the UK. They’ve visited lots of areas around the country while researching the programme. No filming has taken place in North Manchester.”